1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates an improvement in a disc transfer apparatus which relies on a spring force for inserting a disc and on a motor for removing the disc.
2. Description of the Related Art
A disc player mainly for use in a vehicle has a floating chassis mounted with a pickup, a turntable and a damper and is supported within a main chassis in a floating state in forward and backward, right and left, and up and down directions. The floating chassis is supported in the floating state in the main chassis to insulate the main chassis from shock being transferred to the pickup thereby preventing the dropout of reproduced sound from a disc. On the other hand, when a disc is inserted into or ejected from the disc player, the floating chassis is fixed to the main chassis to facilitate the insertion or ejection of the disc.
A conventionally known floating chassis fixing device for fixing a floating chassis supported within a main chassis in a floating state is described in Laid-open Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-339835.
Specifically, the aforementioned reference shows a structure which has a frame (1) of a disc player provided with engagement holes (15, 17) in plates on both sides, and a main chassis (2) provided with slide cam plates (5, 6) on plates on both sides such that the right and left slide cam plates (5, 6) are coupled to each other through link levers (10a, 10b, 10c). To play a disc, the slide cam plates (5, 6) are moved in an outward direction to position lock pins (16, 18) provided on the respective slide cam plates (5, 6) into larger diameter portions (15b, 17b) of the engagement holes (15, 17) to cause the main chassis (2) to float with respect to the frame (1). For inserting or ejecting a disc, the slide cam plates (5, 6) are moved in the return direction to engage the lock pins (16, 18) with the lock portions (15a, 17a) of the engagement holes (15, 17) so as to fix the main chassis (2) to the frame (1).
In the aforementioned floating chassis fixing device, the slide cam plates (5, 6) are provided for the plates on both sides of the main chassis (2) and these right and left slide cam plates (5, 6) are coupled to each other through the link levers (10a, 10b, 10c) for synchronization. As such, a number of parts are required which makes the structure complicated. In addition, the need for the right and left slide cam plates (5, 6) causes a disadvantage of a large width dimension of the overall disc player.
The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and it is an object of the invention to provide a floating chassis fixing device for a disc player which is simple in structure and reduced in size.
A floating chassis fixing device for a disc player according to the present invention comprises a disc guide for guiding a disc to a playing position and a push-in member for transferring a disc to the playing position such that the disc guide and the push-in member are pivotally moved. The floating chassis fixing device further comprises a control member for separating a disc damper from a disc when the disc is ejected. The disc guide and the push-in member are pivoted in association with a movement of the control member to abut the control member, the disc guide and the push-in member to the main chassis, thereby fixing the floating chassis to the main chassis.
In this manner, the disc guide inherently included in the disc player can be pivotally moved, and the disc guide is abutted to the main chassis together with the push-in member and the control member such that the floating chassis is fixed to the main chassis. Thus, the floating chassis can be fixed without increasing the number of parts so as to simplify the structure. In addition, since the control member is required to be disposed only on one side of the floating chassis, the width dimension of the overall floating chassis can be reduced.
Particularly, when the disc guide is engaged with a side plate of the main chassis by fitting a convex portion into a concave portion, a mechanism for fixing them is further simplified.